New York Toy Fair 2019: NECA

NECA’s 2019 Toy Fair showroom was filled to the brim with great new toys and some genuinely stunning surprises.

Where to even begin? NECA had a truly amazing showing at New York Toy Fair this year, with lots of products that extend their existing franchises and plenty of brand new properties as well. One of the most buzzed-about is their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection. Once relegated to Comic Con exclusives, some deft license negotiations have allowed NECA to partner up with retailers to offer their amazing 7″ scale TMNT figures as store exclusives. The 1990 movie Turtles are hitting Game Stop stores now, and this spring Target will carry two-packs based on the classic TMNT animated series. The initial round of two-packs will include the eight figures first made available at Comic Con 2017– the four brothers, Shredder, Krang, and two Foot Soldiers– but if they sell well at Target, we will see more two-packs later this year, including the amazing looking Bebop and Rocksteady whose sculpts made their debut at Toy Fair. Leatherhead and Slash, based off the video game prototypes teased in the past, are also candidates for this second wave of Target two-packs… if that happens, Slash will be reworked to sport a cartoon accurate face and mask.

The most low-key stunning turn of events within the walls of NECA’s Toy Fair booth was the Halloween II Michael Myers figure. Due to difficulties with the license holder of this film franchise, it was long thought we’d never see another old school Shape figure from NECA, but by some streak of luck he has become a reality. The Dick Warlock version of Michael features alternate heads, including the iconic “blood tears” look, and will be released this Fall. In the meantime, we’re also getting Laurie Strode and an 8″ retro style Michael from 2018’s Halloween sequel, and a trio of trick or treating kids wearing the demonic worm masks from Halloween 3 (!!!).

More new horror highlights include a two-pack of secret aliens from They Live, Roy Burns in his Jason disguise from Friday the 13th Part V, several new Pennywise variants from both eras of IT, Dr. Decker in his horrific mask from Nightbreed (a series I would LOVE to see NECA continue), and Toony Terrors, a new lower-cost series of stylized, animated style horror movie monsters and slashers.

An excellent sculpt of Yaphet Kotto’s Parker was the first figure revealed from the Alien 40th Anniversary Collection, which makes its debut in the back half of 2019. This figure looks amazing! While nothing beyond Parker is confirmed, I left with the impression that we may see at least one more member of the Nostromo crew join NECA’s line before the end of the year… possibly even on Alien Day this April, when another 40th Anniversary reveal may take place. You may notice that the Kenner style Drake is absent from the gallery below… don’t worry, he’s still coming, just in the latter half of 2019. NECA wants to focus on the current Kenner tribute wave and the long-awaited Resurrection wave first.

Predator remains NECA’s longest running toy line, and they’re commemorating that in 2019 with an all new creation, the Alpha Predator. This newly sculpted hunter looks ridiculously cool, bedecked in armor made out of the exoskeletal bones of the original, unused Predator creature design, as portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme… an awesome little easter egg built in to a great new figure! The other fun new surprise from the Aliens/ Predator universe is a retro series of 5-inch, 5 point of articulation figures based on newer Aliens and Predators but sculpted to match the 90’s Kenner style. It’s essentially the Bizarro version of the Kenner tribute figures released over the past years, and it’s awesome, especially for vintage collectors. The first lineup will include the Neomorph and [] Predator, both of which sport a silly spring loaded action feature and promise to fit in perfectly with the old school Kenner toys.

I mean, I feel like I could go on and on forever here… I haven’t even mentioned the Sloth and Chunk two-pack from The Goonies, or how great the Gremlins and Guillermo Del Toro collections look all assembled and on display… not to mention Spyro and more great looking mascot figures from the Crash Bandicoot line, the rad Megadeth cover art figures, or the Godzilla King of the Monsters releases, whose sculpts easily top the Tamashii Nations releases, in my opinion. But I feel like now is an appropriate time to tap out and let you all and myself get back to poring over this photo gallery from NECA’s showcase. Hope you enjoy perusing as much as I enjoyed shooting it!